Hello! We will be staying 2 nights in the Stuttgart area December 2024 for the Christmas markets. I am wondering if anyone would recommend staying in Esslingen instead of Stuttgart? Any hotel recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9222 posts
I like Stuttgart and the market there a lot, but if you want to stay in a smaller city that has lots of charm and is chock full of old buildings, stay in Esslingen. I can't help with hotels, but look at them on booking dot com, see the location and read the reviews.
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2588 posts
We stayed at the Achat Stuttgart Zugfenhausen because it was near the Porsche Museum and a subway stop. Marcopolko, a contributor on the tripadvisor Germany forum, often recommends the City Hotel Stuttgart
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1528 posts
It has been a few years, but we have stayed at the City Hotel in Stuttgart twice, once in Advent Season. The City Hotel was very handy to Stuttgart Christmas Market, a sprawling affair with lots of food offerings and shopping. It was one of the best large city markets that we visited.
We visited Esslingen am Neckar. The Middle Ages market and buildings made it a great day trip. Esslingen is smaller and cosier than Stuttgart but I think we enjoyed the larger city more.
Posted by
Lancaster PA
265 posts
We enjoyed the Motel One-Mitte in Stuttgart. It does not have Old World charm but is an easy walk from the train station, we left bags, and proceeded on to the Christmas Market. It was our intention to also visit Esslingen by S-Bahn, but enjoyed the Stuttgart market enough that we never got there.
Posted by
54 posts
I was just in Esslingen/Stuttgart this past Christmas with my daughter. She is a huge Middle Ages/Renaissance fan, and so we chose to stay in Esslingen to be close to the Mittelaltermarkt. She had arrived in the afternoon and I met her at the airport, and then we had two nights. The Mittelaltermarkt in Esslingen is fabulous (I thought much better than the one in Munich), and we had no trouble filling up an evening and a day there and the adjacent Weihnachtsmarkt and were perfectly happy with that. We decided not to spend the time to make our way to Stuttgart. Also, I had heard from a local that the Stuttgart market, while undeniably huge, was more commercial. He also said that Stuttgart was not safe to walk around, and we like to walk everywhere if at all possible. In Esslingen we were sorry that we did not have time to explore the castle. If you are doing a lot of Christmas markets, then Esslingen is a wonderful variation to mix it up, because at some point the markets can become more of the same.
We stayed at the Ecoinn in Esslingen. I guess you could call it a "budget" hotel (we paid $100/night for singles), but it was clean and cheery and comfortable and had everything one could need, including an excellent breakfast. It was an easy walk to the markets, and just a little longer to the train station. By the way, we ate dinner at Kleine Traube. Really cute and the best schnitzel I have ever had. You will need reservations at Christmas, and I think you have to make them by phone.